This invention relates to a thermometer suitable for use with hot tubs, spas, pools and the like, and in particular to a new and improved thermometer with an electrically illuminated temperature indicator energized from a battery power supply integral with the thermometer.
Hot tubs and the like are in wide use today and may be operated at various elevated temperatures. Prolonged exposure to water temperatures above safe levels can be hazardous to the health, and a conventional manner of determining the water temperature is by means of a thermometer hanging in the water with the user occasionally picking up the thermometer to read the temperature and appropriately adjust the heat supply.
However hot tubs and spas and the like often are utilized in the evening and at night when there is little or no light and reading of a thermometer is difficult or impossible.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved thermometer suitable for use in hot tubs and the like which can be used in daylight and in the dark. A further object is to provide such a thermometer with an integral power supply for a bulb for illuminating the temperature indicator.
It is an object of the invention to provide such a thermometer which operates at very low voltage and power, typically using a penlight size battery, to avoid any electrical hazard. At the same time, it is an object to provide such a thermometer which can have relatively long life both during shipping and storage and during use.
This is accomplished in the thermometer of the present invention by providing for manual activation of the thermometer to energize the lamp for a temperature reading, and providing for manual interconnection of the lamp and battery circuit at the time the thermometer is put into use.
These and other objects, advantages, features and results will more fully appear in the course of the following description.